After sales of Research in Motion's PlayBook tablet slumped last quarter, Quanta Computer has laid off about 1,000 workers working on production lines set up specifically for the device, according to a new report.

Industry sources told DigiTimes that the manufacturer is cutting back production lines for the PlayBook at a factory in Taiwan, offering preferential compensation to the roughly 1,000 workers who have been let go. Quanta confirmed the layoffs, but declined to provide further details.

Sources noted that RIM had requested the lines be located in Taiwan in order to avoid the appearance of mainland Chinese knockoffs. "Quanta set up production lines at the factory in northern Taiwan specifically for PlayBook and began production in three shifts with a workforce of more than 2,000 staff," the report noted sources as saying.

Insiders suggested that Quanta had decided to cut its losses, despite the fact that RIM has yet to indicate plans to withdraw from the tablet market. They described RIM's tablet orders as "drastically shrinking."

An earlier report from the publication in April suggested that RIM was "internally optimistic" about the PlayBook and was looking to produce 800,000 units each month in the second half of the year. But, the Canadian smartphone maker revealed last week that it had shipped just 200,000 PlayBooks in the most recent quarter, down from 500,000 in the first quarter of fiscal 2012. Analysts had expected shipments of between 400,000 and 600,000 tablets.

In August, Sprint revealed that it had reached a mutual decision with RIM to cancel plans to release a 4G WiMax version of the PlayBook.

RIM itself is undertaking its own downsizing program. In July, the company announced plans to cut 2,000 jobs, bringing its total global workforce to roughly 17,000 people.

Wall Street has a cautious view of the company after its most recent weak quarter. Analyst Brian White of Ticonderoga Securities said last week that the PlayBook appears set to be the "next casualty of iPad's tablet dominance." He also predicted Apple's iPhone 5 will "steamroll" BlackBerry 7 offerings from the handset maker.

Shares of RIM are down more than 60 percent since the beginning of the year.

Who would have thought in 2010 that both RIM and HP, in a period of just a couple of months would both have to abandon ship after hitting the rocks because of failings to deliver the necessary leadership, judgement and courage to navigate around. This speaks to the critical importance of effective leadership at the very top of every company and particularly in the tech industry where the currents are swift, turbulent and risky to navigate. These 2 unfortunate outcomes are stark reminders of why the fate of a company truly rests in the hands of it's CEO and why the brilliance of Steve Jobs will live on through the many lessons he has taught us long after we all move on.

Most of all though, I'm saddened by the devastating consequences that poor judgement, hubris and self denial at the highest level bring to thousands of employees and their families in different parts of the world. Hopefully though, the companies still standing will deliver the very best products for not only consumers to enjoy but for their employees to keep their jobs that they and their families are so dependent on.

Slumping PlayBook sales? You gotta be kidding. Who woulda guessed something like that?
No problem for those workers. Just send them over to the iPad 2 assembly line. They can always use some extra workers over there. Might help stop the worker burnout from working around the clock and still never getting close to satisfying iPad 2 demand.

The only thing that these so-called "iPad killers" are good at is killing themselves. They're suicide tablets and only a fool would ever waste their money on getting one. Even the iPad 1, which as we all know was discontinued a while back, is still better than all of the inferior copycats coming out. Nothing comes even close to the massive ecosystem which Apple has built up, not to mention their superior tablets which are lightyears ahead of the copytition. By the time the iPad3 comes out, it'll be pretty much game over.

The accessories market for the iPad alone is probably bigger than the entire non-iPad tablet market.

Apple is truly killing it and I'm loving it! I pity the poor monkeys who try to challenge Apple and think that they can actually do better!

Bring on the firesale!

As for me, I wouldn't want a Playbook, even if I could get one for $50.

This sort of experience will just give apple an even greater advantage with suppliers. Suppliers will view non-apple companies as riskier and charge them higher prices relative to what they charge apple.

In the last week or so, people have been comparing windows 8 to iOS/macos -- an interesting comparison to be sure. But in terms of shipping products that's only half the story. The other half is the hardware. And this RIM story is a great reminder of the advantages apple has in terms of building high quality hardware at a reasonable cost.

I've owned an iPad 2 since launch day in the UK. Yes, I lined up for 5 hours - more fool me. I really enjoy it, it's cool. I'm not blind though, so I do look at other tablets when I'm in stores. I've seen the Playbook about 3 times now in PC World (UK Store, not Magazine by same name) and *every* time the demo it runs has completely screwed up the display. It has ended up with the display thinking it is in portrait mode but being in landscape and there seems to be nothing you can do but reboot to fix it. This is a really good reason not to buy a Playbook. I've also looked at the Android tablets, some of them are pretty sweet. If I wasn't so happy with my iPad 2, I'd buy one. The 7" form factor is a lot more conveniant for my usage pattern, but the iPad just works too well to use that as an excuse.

Lol...But really, I think they should sell these at cost if they aren't selling, then make up their other spending on developer tools, services, etc. That's what HP should have done, the fire sale proved people were interested but wanted a lower price.

Lol...But really, I think they should sell these at cost if they aren't selling, then make up their other spending on developer tools, services, etc. That's what HP should have done, the fire sale proved people were interested but wanted a lower price.

Are you kidding. A company needs to be profitable. This means making money on all their assets. Not giving them away. If you do a little home work, the first step to losing it, is to drop your prices, and thus your profit. When profit goes, so down goes the company.
FWIW.

Are you kidding. A company needs to be profitable. This means making money on all their assets. Not giving them away. If you do a little home work, the first step to losing it, is to drop your prices, and thus your profit. When profit goes, so down goes the company.
FWIW.

you business pundits make me laught

Which is all fine and dandy unless no one is buying said products. Selling them at cost or at a small loss is not unheard of, the PS3 and 360 were both sold at a loss at the beginning and the cost was made up by developer tools, licences, etc. If the Playbook was actually selling well, sure, sell for a profit, but it isn't, so the latter strategy might work better. HP's strategy of giving up and dropping the Touchpad was dumb, obviously people were interested, they didn't even try a smaller price drop first.

Biggest problem for RIMM, from the reports I have read, is that they put out an unfinished product at premium prices. It could have worked if there wasn't any other tablet around but the iPad has been around now for 1.5 years and people aren't going to pay a premium for something that appears unfinished.

The other thing that I don't understand is the production runs that these companies have ordered for the launch of their products. Why come out with a substantial production run when you have such an unfinished product? Maybe they are getting a discount on parts/production for making a larger run but these guys seem to be building these things faster than the original iPad run. There has been some complaints about the way that Apple has managed inventory on many of their new product introductions but I think it ultimately makes more sense to be lean on the front end of a product introduction and build up the production as/if needed rather than being caught with a ton of inventory if your product doesn't sell.

The assumption on RIM's part was because they could make a phone with a tiny plastic keyboard and a late 20th century OS that was successful, they could enter and compete with Apple in the iOS arena from a standing start. Very ironic when you consider the warning Apple was given by RIM about staying out of markets they didn't understand. I wonder if they will burn through all their assets before total collapse or somehow manage to salvage something out the rubble.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Biggest problem for RIMM, from the reports I have read, is that they put out an unfinished product at premium prices. It could have worked if there wasn't any other tablet around but the iPad has been around now for 1.5 years and people aren't going to pay a premium for something that appears unfinished.

The other thing that I don't understand is the production runs that these companies have ordered for the launch of their products. Why come out with a substantial production run when you have such an unfinished product? Maybe they are getting a discount on parts/production for making a larger run but these guys seem to be building these things faster than the original iPad run. There has been some complaints about the way that Apple has managed inventory on many of their new product introductions but I think it ultimately makes more sense to be lean on the front end of a product introduction and build up the production as/if needed rather than being caught with a ton of inventory if your product doesn't sell.

I agree on all counts. The problem was I suspect that the decision makers could not envisage failure after so much success. Business is littered with those that assumed they could succeed twice after an initial win but don't. It is usually because they convince themselves they were truly brilliant the first time and discount the 'being in the right place at the right time' factor which more often than not was the real reason for the initial success. That's not easy to duplicate. That is a magical ability that for a decade SJ has shown many times over and will probably never be matched for a long, long time. I suspect time travel is involved

The ridiculous inventory so many of the iPad killers seem to create is IMO likely due to Apple having created the precedent of such a low priced iPad simply by the scale of economy leaving competitors screwed on build costs without massive volume.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Slumping PlayBook sales? You gotta be kidding. Who woulda guessed something like that?
No problem for those workers. Just send them over to the iPad 2 assembly line. They can always use some extra workers over there. Might help stop the worker burnout from working around the clock and still never getting close to satisfying iPad 2 demand.

After sales of Research in Motion's PlayBook tablet slumped last quarter, Quanta Computer has laid off about 1,000 workers working on production lines setup specifically for the device, according to a new report.

I think RIM needs radical change before they start piling up losses and then get into a position where they have no room to maneuver.

If they want to remain an independent company, then one approach might be to ditch the hardware business altogether and focus on providing secure communications software and back-end services for other platforms. In so doing, they could sell off a lot of the patents they won't be needing anymore and fire all of their hardware people. The cash from the patents would help ease the transition. The company would have to contract quite a bit, but they're going to contract anyway. Might as well do it in a controlled way that's part of a strategy for the future rather than an uncontrolled collapse.

Are you kidding. A company needs to be profitable. This means making money on all their assets. Not giving them away. If you do a little home work, the first step to losing it, is to drop your prices, and thus your profit. When profit goes, so down goes the company.
FWIW.

you business pundits make me laught

maybe they are attempting the Microsoft Xbox model of selling hardware below cost and hid this fact under other revenue streams and hope to make up ist lost in online services and software sales.

For about the same money as a Playbook one could have an iPad with a bigger screen, a much more polished interface, and a vastly more extensive library of inexpensive apps.

The question is, why did RIM bother to bring the Playbook to market in the first place. It had nothing to offer the vast majority of consumers in the market for such a device. All RIM did was brought to market a decidedly inferior device in all the ways that matter to the end user yet charge roughly the same price.

I've said it numerous times and will repeat it now. Apple won the tablet war through one brilliant manoeuvre. It brought the iPad to market at the sweet spot in terms of price. The competition can't do it cheaper or better, let alone at least one of the two. If you can have Apple's expertise in industrial design without paying a premium, why bother with other companies' offerings.

This war was over before it started and Apple will likely keep raising the bar annually as it has done with the iPod. The competition never had a chance.

I believe that's only if you want to read your BlackBerry-based mail with the PlayBook. Security concerns prevent you from using both devices with the same mailbox.

Not quite. It's to do with the entire architecture of the BES solution - it is based on a one to one PIN number mechanism. The problem they are having is re-engineering the software to handle one PIN to many devices.

It does not appear to be a simple process for them given how mature(old?) the BES solution is.

Where a calculator on the ENIAC is equpped with 18,000 vaccuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 vaccuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons.by Popular Mechanics

Who would have thought in 2010 that both RIM and HP, in a period of just a couple of months would both have to abandon ship after hitting the rocks because of failings to deliver the necessary leadership, judgement and courage to navigate around. This speaks to the critical importance of effective leadership at the very top of every company and particularly in the tech industry where the currents are swift, turbulent and risky to navigate. These 2 unfortunate outcomes are stark reminders of why the fate of a company truly rests in the hands of it's CEO and why the brilliance of Steve Jobs will live on through the many lessons he has taught us long after we all move on.

Most of all though, I'm saddened by the devastating consequences that poor judgement, hubris and self denial at the highest level bring to thousands of employees and their families in different parts of the world. Hopefully though, the companies still standing will deliver the very best products for not only consumers to enjoy but for their employees to keep their jobs that they and their families are so dependent on.

What a brilliant post! Thanks!

If noone has noticed yet, we are living in very different times. No such thing would have happened a few years ago, things would have lingered on.

We are living in a time where results and consequences of one's actions are immediate. I call that Instant Karma. It's not postponed to the next lifetime or even a decade from now, what one does produces consequences that are right there in one's face almost immediately.

I like this time better for that.

The end result is written on this brilliant post: Rather than copy Apple's products, which many will be tempted to do for some time still, CEOs will innevitably start to copy and learn from Steve Jobs' case study example of strategic leadership. And if they will not, their shareholders will start to outright sac them because, for anyone with a brain between their ears, it's all starting to become in your face obvious.

So beware, CEOs of the world, the time to be just a nicely spoken professional in a $1000s suit is over. You either have what it takes and can inspire and drive people to follow you or you'd better think of other professions.

Steve Jobs dropped out of college so it's not about that. Like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, George Soros, Michael Dell who were extremely successful, Jobs didn't have formal education. So throw away your shinny MBAs, they're worthless.

Genius is innate, a matter of personality, and the skills you need to go along with that one learns on the job. Probably with a big failure or two in your hands. I remember to have once learned that venture capital firms appreciate a business failure more than an MBA in an entrepreneurs CV. What, you failed and you're still here going at another one? You must 1) have balls 2) be crazy enough 3) have it in the blood 4) have self drive 5) be natural born for this because you know not other things to do.

So companies of the world, sharpen up and start looking at the CEO you hire with greater lucidity - Apple and Steve Jobs are teaching the world a lesson.

The PlayBook needs to be coupled with a BlackBerry to function. RIM left off key functionality off the PlayBook, their messaging tools (their strong suite). The PlayBook without a BB is heavily crippled.

The PlayBook needs to be coupled with a BlackBerry to function. RIM left off key functionality off the PlayBook, their messaging tools (their strong suite). The PlayBook without a BB is heavily crippled.

Not really worth it.

That's old news. Email, calendar and contact management will all be available in the next update. Not saying this will turn sales around, but just saying that critics should stay abreast with the latest news or would look foolish.

Who would have thought in 2010 that both RIM and HP, in a period of just a couple of months would both have to abandon ship after hitting the rocks because of failings to deliver the necessary leadership, judgement and courage to navigate around. This speaks to the critical importance of effective leadership at the very top of every company and particularly in the tech industry where the currents are swift, turbulent and risky to navigate. These 2 unfortunate outcomes are stark reminders of why the fate of a company truly rests in the hands of it's CEO and why the brilliance of Steve Jobs will live on through the many lessons he has taught us long after we all move on.

Most of all though, I'm saddened by the devastating consequences that poor judgement, hubris and self denial at the highest level bring to thousands of employees and their families in different parts of the world. Hopefully though, the companies still standing will deliver the very best products for not only consumers to enjoy but for their employees to keep their jobs that they and their families are so dependent on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XamaX

What a brilliant post! Thanks!

If noone has noticed yet, we are living in very different times. No such thing would have happened a few years ago, things would have lingered on.

We are living in a time where results and consequences of one's actions are immediate. I call that Instant Karma. It's not postponed to the next lifetime or even a decade from now, what one does produces consequences that are right there in one's face almost immediately.

I like this time better for that.

The end result is written on this brilliant post: Rather than copy Apple's products, which many will be tempted to do for some time still, CEOs will innevitably start to copy and learn from Steve Jobs' case study example of strategic leadership. And if they will not, their shareholders will start to outright sac them because, for anyone with a brain between their ears, it's all starting to become in your face obvious.

So beware, CEOs of the world, the time to be just a nicely spoken professional in a $1000s suit is over. You either have what it takes and can inspire and drive people to follow you or you'd better think of other professions.

Steve Jobs dropped out of college so it's not about that. Like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, George Soros, Michael Dell who were extremely successful, Jobs didn't have formal education. So throw away your shinny MBAs, they're worthless.

Genius is innate, a matter of personality, and the skills you need to go along with that one learns on the job. Probably with a big failure or two in your hands. I remember to have once learned that venture capital firms appreciate a business failure more than an MBA in an entrepreneurs CV. What, you failed and you're still here going at another one? You must 1) have balls 2) be crazy enough 3) have it in the blood 4) have self drive 5) be natural born for this because you know not other things to do.

So companies of the world, sharpen up and start looking at the CEO you hire with greater lucidity - Apple and Steve Jobs are teaching the world a lesson.

Thank you Steve! Thank you Apple!

(Wiping tears with my sleeve ..)

I too am sad. I am sad for you because you seem to be oblivious to history of business before 2011. This is not new. Bigger, more successful companies have stumbled harder. This is not the first time, or the last time that a technology disruption changes not only the lives of customers but also competitors in the same industry.

This war was over before it started and Apple will likely keep raising the bar annually as it has done with the iPod. The competition never had a chance.

I think the successful strategy Apple is pursuing, a case study one, is to replicate that iPod success with the iPad. I mean, it's so obvious, can't you even tell by the product name similarity?!

You're right, with the iPad 3 they will own the market like they did with the iPod. Google is the new Microsoft with fewer gray hairs but with same-same brain.

Still we're talking about the post-PC machine for the post-PC era so the story here will necessarily be different. This is not a one-trick pony, a simple music player. Yet I can't avoid to realize that the iPod was the post-Walkman era machine... And it won the hearts of the youngsters like the iPad...

The validation that we're transitioning between eras, from the PC era into the post-PC era has come with HP's death. HP was the PC era archetypical company, full stop. It's dead. It is turning into the IBM of post-DOS era. I believe they are in panic and they were quite hasty in their decision, probably more preoccupied with securing their kids Porsche than the rats-S they give about the soul of the company that employs them.

I would have fired HP's and RIM's CEOs already but mark my words, that is on their way! Thing is, it's not just the CEOs that are dormant and unreacting properly to the changing world, most people/stock holders are too. Like in cataleptic state...

They didn't figure out yet that this is all there is: we're in a frantically fast changing world and you cannot go about REACTING to change!

You must surf the waves of the change therefore you must envision what waves are coming and when! And you gotta build yourself a ver nice bodyboard or surf board to ride the wave.

As a CEO you should spend much of your time ruminating about the waves that are coming.

Believe you me, Steve Jobs is leaving the company with all necessary plans in place for all the necessary waves of change.

For instance, isn't it obvious the TV business is overdue for a change? It's a stale business with top-down 1984 big brother style energy flow that induces passive dribbling and brainwashed users. The success of the Internet showed people need interactivity, to participate, to make their choices, to get involved, to feel alive and participant. Not to be a couch potato. So why hasn't that changed yet? It's long overdue. Steve Jobs knows there's lack of visionaries in the world, at least in the relevant decision making position so he is serenely waiting for the sweet spot time frame to drop in with yet another revolution. Many movies have shown the future regarding TV. Apple has shown and put out the Apple TV showing the way, the inevitable way.

If one studies Jobs life, one realizes he had to learn a lesson the hard way. The lesson of being too early into a market. Those that pioneer, many a time are not the one's that endure, it turns out they become the guinea-pigs for the big bad money rich businesses to follow suit and take the fillet mignon out of their mouths when they were almost almost going to bite it.

In the new-era-TV, I believe Apple is just waiting rather selfishly for the iPad success to be secured in order to jump-start the next revolution. And it's not about turning a stupid TV model upside down into a smart net machine. It will be about changing people's lives by changing their habits and lifestyle by (starting with) changing their homes. It'll probably be about the fully computerized home. And guess what? Only a full "ecosystemized" business model company such as Apple is best prepared for it.

I'm guessing Steve has left a pack of blueprints in the Apple CEO's desk for Tim - but he didn't need it 'cos he was groomed up with all those visionary scenarios. Still Steve is pretty much alive, doing exactly what he has been doing in the last couple of years, being the dreamer and visionary that sets out what to do. And he has equipped Apple with formidable executives that are really best at executing. Steve and Tim are a dream team, all the other stars that shine at Apple only beautify this pair even more.

I'm pretty cool about Apple in the next 10-20 years - which is all that matters. $420 is really short change to where this company is rising to. It can go up to $1000 easy but they will split before that happens for the sake of the stock market. I'm talking relative value, I'm not taking cataclysm and world economy crash scenario effects into this.

I too am sad. I am sad for you because you seem to be oblivious to history of business before 2011. This is not new. Bigger, more successful companies have stumbled harder. This is not the first time, or the last time that a technology disruption changes not only the lives of customers but also competitors in the same industry.

Here's an hanky, there...

You should read posts twice before jumping into conclusions and misinterpretations. If you can read and have a brain, which I'm sure is the case, you will realize I'm talking about the faster pace.

The question is, why did RIM bother to bring the Playbook to market in the first place. It had nothing to offer the vast majority of consumers in the market for such a device. All RIM did was brought to market a decidedly inferior device in all the ways that matter to the end user yet charge roughly the same price.

RIM was probably thinking that (1) they could tap into their millions of Blackberry users, and (2) they would differentiate themselves with a 7" tablet. So millions of Blackberries with 7" tablets = lots of money.

Their execution did kinda work at first: Blackberry users did flock to the tablet, maybe 200k to 300k of them. But that's it: the rest of them who might be interested in the PB work for companies like mine where everything is locked down and a Tablet would be worthless. So for personal use, the tablet kinda bites since you need a Blackberry to access corporate email, no native email apps, no native calendar, etc etc. So overall, their execution was terrible since there was nothing new to offer to the general public.

I'm glad I have my iPad 2 and don't have to worry about these problems. Just finished Machinarium, great little game.

For instance, isn't it obvious the TV business is overdue for a change? It's a stale business with top-down 1984 big brother style energy flow that induces passive dribbling and brainwashed users. The success of the Internet showed people need interactivity, to participate, to make their choices, to get involved, to feel alive and participant. Not to be a couch potato. So why hasn't that changed yet? It's long overdue.

Agreed.

It's apparent after carefully watching the past few years unfold that Steve Jobs and his trusted inner circle are well aware of this, and are guiding their ship to be in the right place at the right time. They subtly (or not so subtly) change their products and strategy to guide consumers in a certain direction, then when the time is right they will pounce on the opportunity while other companies are left wondering why they got left behind again.

I don't think we're quite there yet with TVs, but the time is coming. Consumer attitudes and behaviors toward TV, and media in general, are changing. Apple is capitalizing on a portion of that with the iPhone, iPad and MBAir products. And Apple is gathering vast amounts of valuable (and loyal!) customers along the way, giving themselves more clout in future product releases and in future negotiations with potential partners/competitors. It's a huge chess game, and Jobs has been very, very smart about setting up the board in Apple's favor.

Not quite. It's to do with the entire architecture of the BES solution - it is based on a one to one PIN number mechanism. The problem they are having is re-engineering the software to handle one PIN to many devices.

It does not appear to be a simple process for them given how mature(old?) the BES solution is.

Arent they moving to use the Blackberry ID rather than just the PIN for messaging? This would open up cross-platform opportunities as well?